Improvement in wbenohes



ttuitrh -tates atnt @ffice TIMOTHY EARLE, OF VALLEY FALLS, SMITHFIELD, RHODE ISLAND.f

i Letters Patent No. 61,929, datati FcruarygIZ, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT IN' WRENGHES.

@he .t'qetule nfcmh tu in tlgrse Eaters iitent :mt milking putt nf tige smurf 'TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

De it known that I, TIMorIIY EARLE, of Valley Falls, Smithfield, in the county of Providence, and State of Rhode Island, have invented anew and useful Improvement in Wrenches; and I do hereby declare -that the following speeiication, taken in'conneetion with the drawings making a part of the same, is a full, clear, and exact description thereof. i

Figure 1 is a side elevation in perspective.

Figure 2 is Va sectional elevation.

A wrench of' the general character shown in the drawings, and commonly called a monkey wrench, consists of two jaws, one of which Vis stationary, and the other of which is mevable,lso that the opening between the jaws can be adjusted to holt-heads of different sizes. This movable jaw has l1eretof`ore.bcen usually provided witlra nut, and combined with a screw variously arranged, so that by turningl the screw the jaw canbe adjusted at any position within the limits of the length of the screw. In the practical use of this tool, changes inthe adjustment of the slidingjaw are constantly required, and it is desirable to have a means for conveniently and rapidly makingsuch-adjustment. A A

In the present invention, A`is the handle of the wrench, B the fixed jaw, and C the sliding'one, which latter has a shank, D, and embracing-collar, E,as hitherto made. The inner face of the shank D is out with ne bevelled ratchet teeth from ato a. F is a piece of spring steel, provided with'siiuilar ratchet teeth upon its outward face. This piece of steel is riveted, at its lower extremity, to the shank of the fixed jaw B, in which is eut a recess, as shown, for its accommodation. v'.Ile tendency of F is to spring outward at the upper end, and exert a slight pressure upon the ratchet face ofthe shank D, against which some part of its surface always 'bears G is a thumb-screw, by `turning which the point can be made to bear against the back oi' the springl piece F, and, forcing its upper end outward, cause the two sets of ratchet teeth to become firmly locked, to hold the slidingjaw in a fixed piace. It is obvious that, so long as no pressure is applied to the back of the spring piece F, the sliding jaw of the wrench can be freely moved by the fingers to the position desired, when, upon giving a few turns to the thumb-screw, the two sets of teeth will be interlocked, and all further movement oi' the jawprevented. Instead of the ratchet facesdescribed, roughened surfaces may be employed, but not with the same certainty, in large tools of this character, that the friction would be suicient to withstand the powerful lateral strain to which the sliding jaw is often subjected.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, iss- The invention in wrenches, described, consisting of a movab'le jaw, C, provided with a serrated or equivalent roughenetl surface, a a', in combination with a spring clamp, F, or its equivalent, substantially as set forth.

TIMOTHY EARLE.

Witnesses:

W. B. VINCENT, J. D. THURsToN. 

